Glenn Jupp

I've been having a look at the MAKEWAV readme files again, but I've had not enough sleep and too much whisky to figure out exactly which settings and flags to use to duplicate the "long load" version of a Supercharger recording. Anybody know the right numbers offhand, or should I just wait 'til tomorrow to wrangle this detail? How about "SDI" on vinyl? Or maybe "Frame Timed Sound Effects?" Or even both, a game on side A and an application on the flip side.

Oooo, red vinyl. For some reason I am imagining a Yar battling a Quotile on that label.

Two minutes and twenty five seconds, or near enough.

Me? Ahh yes, "The Rainbow." Remember the issue with a text adventure that came with a scratch-and-sniff card for clues? Cool, odd stuff. And I believe a Supercharger game should fit on a 7" single, even if you're not trying to store it in "quick load" format. Let me go time the "long load" side of Phaser Patrol, and we'll see.

Why, oh why are you Collectors always taunting us mere mortals with your buried treasures?

Oh! Right, I remember eyeing that one and debating with myself over whether to buy it. "Some day," I told myself. Now I'm even more curious about the gizmo and its innards. Time to shop around.

Nice. What condition is it in? And if it's not too much trouble, would you open 'er up and snap some pix of the insides? I'm terribly curious.

Cartridge mod? It's certainly doable. I like it. Though I wouldn't want to fiddle with the cart while it's plugged in and the console is on... Hey, you could even scavenge the "screaming eye" from the Book of the Dead 2 edition of ED2.

Oh, yes, the Gameline service was doomed at those prices. But the Gameline hardware, the Master Module, is still there waiting to be explored and exploited. Not that I'm going to hold my breath waiting. I've got too much of an oxygen addiction.

Well, for me it's not just the rarity of the thing. That's cyclical. Sometimes there's buckets of 'em for the having, sometimes not. What makes the Gameline stand out in my mind is the untapped potential of the gizmo. Look at what happened with the Supercharger. It played a significant role in the homebrew scene. The Gameline could have done the same. Could have done more, with the modem sending stuff up the pipe instead of just receiving. But you know all that. It just irks me that the Gameline hit a dead-end. I guess I have a soft spot for the also-rans.

I've got a long rainbow, NTSC, serial number "A1 791338967". Haven't cracked it open to look at the chips, sorry.

None. Yah, that's what I thought at first. Thinking a little more, I realized the worst response would be some deliberate misinformation that, if followed, would make the magic smoke leak out of the Gameline, the 2600, and our fingernails. Ooo, fingers crossed here. That would be some kind of great. Yah, I know that we couldn't download the binary into a KrokoCart or Supercharger or anything and expect it to work. But if the sparks who frequent the programming sections of the forum can study the rom, just imagine the neo-retro-funness that could ensue.

Sorry it took a while. I had half forgotten where I found this stuff. Kevin Horton used to have a page on his site (ages and ages ago) about the guts of the Gameline Master Module. The Internet Archive does have a copy of the page. The text is in light grey on a white background, so just select everything on the page so you can read it easier. http://web.archive.org/web/20000118025908/...is/gameline.htm Unfortunately, the link to the ROM binary is a dead end. Oh, and check out the [stella] mailing list for some more of Kevin talking about this gizmo. http://atari2600.org/pipermail/stella/2001...ust/007818.html That's the best I can do for you. If you want more, then try asking Kevin Horton. What's the worst response you could get?

Good news: The rom has been dumped. Bad news: The site that had the dump is long gone. I remember finding it in the Internet Archive, but the rom dump wasn't captured. A little more good news: The archived site still had some interesting information on the chips and circuitry of the GameLine. Perhaps somebody clever can use it as a jumping off point for a further exploration of the gizmo. Give me a little while to go digging about, and I'll post what links I can find.

Am I excited about the Chimaera? Oh yes, terribly so. In a patient, quiet, don't-pester-the-nice-people-doing-the-hard-work sort of way. Dark Helmet: "When will then be now?" Col. Sanderz: "Soon."

Yeah, the "ejection loop" is an old trick of maze makers. Check the simple pic I attached. The maze on the left is a "simply" connected maze. Always taking the right-hand path will get you to the goal and out again. But the maze on the right has a loop that will take you around and back to the start, but the path to the goal will be opposite your "always turn ***" rule. Random Terrain's Ruins game makes randomized mazes, but it looks to me like they will most always have a loop round the outside and a few loops throughout the interior. Always turn *** would get the AI stuck fast. Back to Yuppicide's problem, maybe you could give the AI a certain probability of choosing the correct path to catch the player, and otherwise it goes in a random direction? That could give you more options for selecting game difficulty, letting the player choose how smart the AI is.

You could always go the P. T. Barnum route and advertise them as "Real, Genuine, Vintage Pirated Knock-Offs." Don't know how much that would help you, but it couldn't hurt. Myself, I would keep them and cherish them and hug them and call them "George."

True, but I'm near-sighted anyway.

Zwei is an on-rail shooter with branch points to alternate routes in most stages. Since you have Orta, you also have a port of the original PD (but it feels a little "off" to me, play it on a real Saturn I say). And if any of you ever get a chance at PD Saga, go for it. The battles don't feel like any other console RPG I've played. The real-time maneuvering as you jockey for position, dodge attacks and strike at vulnerable spots is so much more exciting (and sometimes frantic) than the usual "I go, you go" of all those other RPGs. The rule of thumb for all the PD games is "short, but so sweet."

Here in London, Ontario the best selection of 2600 stuff is in... well, it used to be called "Playmania" but after they moved a couple units over they got a new sign that doesn't really have a proper name on it. So I guess it's just "Video Games" now. Located out on Dundas Street, between a couple of sex shops. Yeah, classy But they do have a good pile of stuff for most of the old machines, and new ones too. Prices can be a bit higher than I would like, but a guy's gotta pay the rent, I guess.

2600: Pitfall II and the Homestar Runner RPG demo Sega CD: Silpheed (believe it or not) Saturn: all the Panzer Dragoons (but espesially Ein, for some reason)

If you do go with the smashing thing in the end, make a video of the great event. A lot of people love watching that kind of stuff.

Definitely cute. Where can I get one?

Please mark me down for #53 (or the next available if that's been claimed).

I imagine so. I've been told that most critters will swim when tossed into the drink. Lungs and all make 'em buoyant. Unfortunately I don't have any ostriches handy to test with. Probably just as well. Anyway, what if it's not just Ostrich Farming, but Ostrich Rustling? There could be levels where the farm dogs could be chasing the player, maybe while the player is chasing the ostriches. And then there's the farmer, complete with shotgun. Head 'em up and move 'em out, but fast. p.s. Is anyone here familiar with real ostrich behaviour? Do they tend to bunch up or scatter? And am I worrying too much about it for a video game?